Donations to major parties and an ex-premier as a lobbyist: how datacentres play the political game in Australia

As governments face community backlash for fast-tracking developments, big tech’s financial contributions face renewed scrutiny

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On 14 June 2025, Anthony Albanese stood inside an enormous sphere of glass and steel, surrounded by 40,000 plants from around the world. His mind was firmly fixed on datacentres. The prime minister was in the Seattle headquarters of Amazon Web Services. He stood alongside the company’s chief executive, Matt Garman, who outlined a $20bn plan to build datacentres in Melbourne and Sydney.

Speaking to a travelling press pack, Garman was emphatic that Australia was “incredibly important and a great market” for the world’s biggest datacentre company.

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